8403/A Cup of Tea, Some Secrets, and You

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A Cup of Tea, Some Secrets, and You
Date of Scene: 19 July 2019
Location: Unknown
Synopsis: There's an old Chinese curse that says may you live in interesting times. More than tea is poured as secrets overflow at Chez Miscreant when Skye invites Natasha Cranston over for tea, and are later joined by Clint and May. Next time, May makes the tea.
Cast of Characters: Quake, Shadow, Hawkeye (Barton), Melinda May




Quake has posed:
The meeting was long overdue. Especially given their shared co-founding of the Birds. It was one of those things that had been easily overlooked in the aftermath of Skye's change, and the ensuing immersion on the plot to oust Zola from their machines. But time and tide turn, and given that Skye and Clint had been left with strict instructions to 'use the teapot daily, and if you aren't making tea, you at least need to fill it with near boiling water then pour it out after letting it sit for a couple minutes'.

Skye had no clue what near boiling water was, but the reverence with which May treated the teapot suggested that she and Clint would do as she asked, even if in their own haphazard fashion. At the very least, it would be treated well when May was around.

Still, tea was a perfect excuse to invite Natasha Cranston over for a 'thank-you' visit. Well, more than that, but the rest wasn't exactly the kind of shit you sent over the airwaves now, was it?

She'd duly called and left a frustrated message with Ms. Cranston's secretary and hoped for the best. Plan B was going to Ms. Cranston's offices - after all, if you were going to confront someone with their secrets you it was generally best to approach the persona least likely to deny the fact, and having met The Shadow, Skye wasn't about to invite it to Tea - did it even drink tea? No, this was was infinitely more intriguing and revealing.

She'd even bought a packet of sugar cookies.

Shadow has posed:
    Natasha's secretary sounded decidedly skeptical on the phone -- perhaps not surprisingly so, because as far as she knows Skye is a private citizen with no connections to CMS that she's aware of. But Skye has always been as good at the social engineering part of hacking as she is at the technical side, so almost against her own better judgement she does forward the invitation to her boss... And winds up surprised as hell when Natasha orders her to postpone the afternoon board meeting and clear her schedule.

    Near the mentioned time, an utterly unremarkable cab pulls up to the stairs leading to Skye's home. "You sure about this, boss?" Benny asks, glancing at his passenger in the rear view mirror.

    Natasha shrugs. "If she's guessed, she's guessed, and there's little to gain by pretending not to know her. And even if SHIELD has decided the Shadow is too much of a threat to leave walking around, I don't think either agent May or miss Johnson would use this sort of pretext for an ambush."

    She gives the aged cabbie a quick smile. "Do find a reason to stick around the general area, though. Just in case?"

    Benny chuckles as he drives off, and Natasha makes her way up the stairs to the doorway, looking around the neighborhood as she's never been there before. Well, not in daylight...

Quake has posed:
Skey, meanwhile, was cursing in her kitchen, because while May made it look easy, apparently tea was a fine art. She could boil water for cup'o'noodles but tea? What the heck was this voodoo anyway? The tea leaves didn't even come with directions. How much was she supposed to throw in the pot? Why hadn't she paid more attention when May made it in the past?

Ugh. This brilliant idea was becoming less brilliant by the minute. However, she still had cookies, right? And someone else had made those so they were at least guaranteed to be semi-edible. Maybe she should have got them at a bakery..

When the door is knocked at, Skye calls out, from the kitchen, "Just let yourself in. Everybody else does. Do you want the neighbours calling the cops?" Because, yeah. Nobody knocked at their place. It was probably the single most protected dwelling securitywise that also had an open door policy.

Skye throws an extra spoon of loose tea into the pot and only stops herself from adding it all by virture of the fact that May might not be terribly impressed if there was none left for her to have some next time she visited. Which.. given this visit, was likely going to be right soon. Not that Skye had informed her boss, but sometimes that's just how it worked. Besides, if it went well, Skye would be informing May voluntarily. Short of one secret, she'd agreed not to collect such an assortment before dispensing what she knew.

For what it was worth, Natasha had the right of it. Were SHIELD concerned about this to any extent this little meeting would be being held in a SHIELD ready room. Not Skye's place.

Shadow has posed:
    That elicits a chuckle as the dark-haired woman pushes open the door and steps inside. "Do they do that often?" Natasha asks, removing her shoes and leaving them in the vestibule. "Lovely place you have," she remarks as she walks inside, looking around casually and appearing not to notice the various cameras and other subtle home security measures elegantly integrated into the decor.

Quake has posed:
"Do what often?" Skye peeks from the kitchen. "Call the police? Oh they did. Mrs. Kravitz down the street doesn't like us a whole lot. It's uh.. kinda our friend Wade's fault. He uh. may or may not have teased her dog."

Skye gives a pained expression that speaks volumes. She's also being decidedly casual about Ms. Cranston's arrival. If the clues weren't there before, they probably are screaming now. "I'm glad you came. I wasn't sure if your secretary actually believed me when I said I was calling on SHIELD business. Tea in the kitchen, or would you like it out here in the livingroom?"

Skye gestures to the open spaced room that holds no less than 3 couches, making it rather less open spaced than it could be, and has pretty much squashed their diningroom table up against a far walled corner. It would only be a problem if they actually ate at the thing. As it was, Clint and Skye were couch and kitchen people, as were most of their friends. This really wasn't the place for formal affairs.

Shadow has posed:
    "Ah, nosy neighbors. Always pesky," Natasha concurs, smiling politely. "And the living room would seem to be fine."

    If she's concerned about anything, it's impossible to tell under that expression of affable serenity that makes her seem more like a distant relative coming for a visit than a spectacularly wealthy CEO -- or one of the reasons that criminals fear the dark.

    "So," she asks as she seats herself. "How have you been lately? I hope work hasn't kept you too busy..."

Quake has posed:
Skye must have paid some attention to May, because she finds a cutting board (do we even own trays in this household??) and carries it out with the package of cookies (unopened), the teapot, and two shot glasses.

Now, Natasha might find this all odd, but she may also recognize just how old that teapot is, and, well, despite being shotglasses, they're also strangely appropriate. And only add to the hilarity of this meeting.

In all ways, it is about as Skye as things can get. The only thing that could make it more would be for Pawgent Grant Ward to show up and shed on Natasha, however he was still holed up in Skye's quarters at the Triskelion.

"Busy is one way to put it. I wanted to thank you personally for what you did for me in helping SHIELD to get into that underwater base."

She puts cutting board and 'tea service' down and sits at the other end of the couch to Natasha.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
As if summoned by thoughts of the 'brother' he has yet to meet, Randy, the orange tabby, makes his slow descent from upstairs, looking pleased with himself. Coming to the foot of the stairs he looks at the people in his living room before sauntering over. He investigates Skye first, bumping against her legs on his way over to the new human. There, he sits at her feet looking up expectantly.

As if jumping up into her lap was beneath him, he'd rather be lifted thank you very much.

Shadow has posed:
    Natasha doesn't bat an eye at the shot glasses, but the teapot /does/ get her attention. "Interesting. Is that Yixing?" she asks, then nods at Skye's comment, her expression sobering just a bit. "I'm glad I was able to help, although in the end it doesn't seem like I had much to do beyond keeping management distracted from your felow agents. And then swim for my life when the entire base ruptured..."

    She pauses for a moment to take a sip from the tea without so much as a twitch at the taste. "And afterward, of course, SHIELD took pretty much the entirety of Argus to bits and classified everything that wasn't outright confiscated."

    She sighs. "A pity, really - that biofuel research really did look promising." She gives Skye a look, suddenly the perfect opportunistic businesswoman. "I don't suppose any of that has been declassified by now? I have been looking to acquire some good R&D staff..."

Quake has posed:
Skye looks the teapot way and has to give a shrug. "I have no clue. If you mean is it Chinese, we got it at some junk shop in Chinatown. I think the guy ripped us off to be honest, but it looked like something May would like. Then he threw in a knocking cat and Clint - uh, my partner - was sold. She seemed to like it, and I know these aren't the right glasses but they're what she used."

She's about to suggest that Natasha pour while she (belatedly) opens the cookies, when the.. cat.. arrives. The cat that she and Clint do not own. The cat who has, if she understands cat by her briefn relationship with Pawgent Grant Ward, has not only just claimed her, but is giving her the stink eye for not picking it up as it its just do in the world. And like black magic, or hypnotism, Skye actually leans down and picks up the thing. "Who.. We don't own a cat."

Okay, that was a lie, given the cat she'd brought home, but as far as Natasha (or Clint) knew, they did not own a cat.

"Uh.. No, actually, I can uneqivicably say it hasn't been yet. And that would kind of be my fault it hasn't been."

Now that the orange tabby was in her lap, Skye looks more than a little lost.

"I haven't had a lot of opportunity to piece through what we found there, and.." Here Skye pauses and gives a shrug. "So what happened there wasn't a biofuel experiment. It was a nice little cover, and I'm sure we can probably figure out some joint initiative once the bulk of that clears, but let's be honest, what was happening there was me."

First serve lobbed into Natasha's court.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Randy does not seem to care. Lifted with a small 'meow' he settles when set down in Skye's lap, nudging at her hand with his head looking for scritche while she dealt with whatever human business she was doing. You know, things that were less important than scritches.

Shadow has posed:
    "You'd have to consult an expert to have it assessed, but if that's the real deal, unless you paid more than fifty thousand dollars for it you almost certainly weren't ripped off," Natasha replies, waiting until Skye has put the teapot safely down before dropping that bombshell.

    Randy's antics draw another smile from her. "Inasmuch as anyone can say they own a cat, rather than the reverse. Does he have a name he responds to?" she asks, looking the tabby over with polite curiosity.

    "Cover or no, the biofuel part was real enough - I've had to listen to more than my fair share of scientists trying to sell me snake oil, and Dr. Winters, at the very least, sounded like she truly believed she was on to something promising there. I couldn't say the same about her manager, but I'd vouch for her sincerity at least..."

    She trails off as Skye comes to her confession, and raises an eyebrow, encouraging the young woman to continue.

Quake has posed:
Oh yeah. LIkely a VERY wise move to wait till that teapot is put down. "Care to repeat that?" Because by Skye's mental calculations, they'd paid a goodly.. "The guy bumped the price down to 275 when we were going to walk. You're joking about 50k right? Like this is funny ha ha?"

The teapot is eyeballed like someone just suggested she needed to put on dress formals, and this time the skirt, and go make nice with the upper eschelons of the UN Council.

Randy gets an absent scritch, because cat. "Uh.. he wasn't here when I left. In fact I think he may have come in a window?" Riiight. From upstairs. That, or Clint had gotten hijacked at a shelter or something, but he wouldn't do that, would he? the cat, as it happens, has a tag.

"Tag says Randy. He must belong to someone." Please, she thought, don't let that someone be us. I still have to explain Pawgent Grant Ward...

She does follow the gist of the conversation about the biofuel. It was, she knew, an ingenious cover. "I'm pretty sure a large number of the people working there had no clue. But the lower levels of the place were all prisoners. Hydra labs. Torture equipment." She's grim as she says that, one hand absently rubbing at the palm of the other.

"Yeah. I figured it out some time ago. I wasn't 100% sure until you met with May. And then I knew. I kinda heard everything you two talked about. You know, we've been working together now for what? Just over a year, huh? And none of us have actually broken down and admitted anything. So, I know who you are. Right now it's just us. I mean, Oracle knows, right? I know who she is, too. But nobody else. And me, yeah. But you already knew that when you offered to help me learn to focus."

So much for lobbed serves.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Tribute of scritches received, Randy settles down in Skye's lap, stretching and shifting until he's comfortable, the low rumble of a purr escaping him as he does.

Shadow has posed:
    "As I said, you'd want an expert to assess its authenticity, and I'm not perfectly up to date with the market value of Yixing porcelain, but if it is real... Anywhere between thirty-five and fifty thousand, depending on its condition and the buyer." Natasha shrugs again, as if the exact number isn't even that interesting -- but then, to someone with a net worth of billions, it probably isn't.

    The smile melts away when Skye explains what was going on at the lower levels of the facility, her expression shifting to compassionate concern... And then Skye drops the bombshell.

    Natasha doesn't say anything while Skye rambles, a look of polite confusion on her face so perfect that when Skye finishes, for an endless moment she suddenly wonders if she'd guessed wrong after all...

    And then Natasha blinks, and in the space of that blink /something/ seems to shift that even Randy notices, his head shooting up to stare at the person whose lap he isn't in... And when Natasha meets Skye's eyes again, she Knows she wasn't wrong.

    "... Oracle did speak highly of your intelligence," Natasha eventually replies. "I don't think I've ever found her to be wrong."

Quake has posed:
"There were papers in the box it came in. May took them," Skye says quietly, remembering that moment clearly. And how May had gone on after that as though nothing had changed, issuing only the edict that they were to make tea every day, or, you know, the hot water thing.

Skye is still looking grim when Natasha's smile melts away, the younger woman giving a half shrug and a look that tries to lighten the experience. "If it helps, I took out a whole couple floors of them before they stopped me. I actually almost made it out. It.. wasn't an experience I care to repeat."

She and any ohter number of agents who'd gone through the Hydra machine. Some hadn't been as lucky as she.

That crooked grin returning when Natasha doesn't deny anything. "She said that? Nice. Not really sure it's so much smart. I just have.. I don't know. I get people. Which is kind of weird. I mean, it's not like I had this stellar upbringing, or that whole securefamily life thing. But it's like I see through people to what's really there. Good or bad. And I know you didn't fall into this one, but people seem to want to tell me things."

Her smile comes with a soft laugh, a pet for Randy, and an offer of cookies, "They looked decent. And I like her. I wouldn't betray her."

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Clint had been out looking into Randy's background. The cat had just appeared while Skye was away and didn't seem to want to leave. Especially after Clint fed him, but he had a tag so he had to belong to someone right?

There was no address but the vet he spoke to said microchips were a thing, so Clint made an appointment to see him checked out, and brought home some food in the meantime.

Which is what he's holding when he walks in the door to find Skye and Natasha Cranston in their living room. "Hey," he greets dropping the bag of food behind him. Though his eyes quickly fall on Randy in Skye's lap and he smiles, "So he got in again huh?" he asks. "He's been doing that for the last couple of days. And Ms. Cranston, good to see you again."

Shadow has posed:
    ... And just like that, it's gone again. "Agent Barton, good afternoon." Natasha gives Clint a polite smile from behind her shot glass of tea, every inch the polite, cultured guest. "Miss Johnson invited me over to tea, and I wasn't doing anything so important I couldn't put it off, so here I am..."

Quake has posed:
Skye gives Clint a grin. "You sure you didn't leave the windows open, laced with bacon or something?" She shakes her head.

"I was just taking the opportunity to thank Ms. Cranston for helping be part of saving me from the Argus labs, and also to talk to her about some of the materials we found. There's some stuff that the Bobsey twins say is actually valid science. I thought maybe we could sort of collaberate.."

And then she grows serious. "She says this teapot is like old. LIke really old. Like why did May leave it in our house kinda old. Remember when we thought 275 was a lot of money to pay for it? Care to guess what it actually sells for?"

Yep, just like that, Skye has the answers and it's just her and Ms. Cranston doing SHIELD business that Skye was now going to have to inform May about after the fact, when she asked what she was thinking leaving the teapot at their place, oymygosh May are you crazy?

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Seeing Clint, Randy jumps down from Skye's lap and saunters over to him, tail in the air as he weaves around Clint's legs.

"Ha!" he grins in reply to Skye. "I don't need to, the little guy would keep finding a way in even if I filled the place with dogs," he says bending down to give Randy a scritch.

Looking up, he grins to Natasha, "Well, glad you could make it then. I can go hang out up stairs if you guys need to talk in private," he offers.

Shadow has posed:
    "Oh, that's perfectly all right," Natasha replies to Clint. "I'd been meaning to thank you, myself; I'm not sure we'd have made it back to the surface alive without your help. I like to think I'm a decent swimmer, but that was a great deal further down than I'm accustomed to..."

Quake has posed:
Randy's desertion is taken in with a shake of head. "He probably belongs to someone. He has a tag. We.." She stops short of saying 'we can't keep him' because, she was the one with a cat holed up in the Triskelion this very moment. "We.. should try and find his owners."

Skyetilts her head at Natasha's words. "I missed most of that. What happened after I - well, after the place was destroyed. It's all kind of a bit of a blank to me."

Well, some of it was. But not all. She remembered Zola and his angry, face, half fallen off his robotic body. The mutant who was terrified of her, but alive. The man held down on the boards beside her who wasn't so lucky, like so many of Zola's guards. Those things were hard to forget, especially when they'd been her fault.

With good reason, Skye settles back, silent.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
"Already on that," Clint says picking up Randy so he's looking him in the face. "We're going to find out if you have a microchip and then we'll find your owners," he was speaking to the cat now. "Saw a vet about it, he's got an appointment on Monday, we'll get him home."

He sets Randy back down and sends him on his way before heading into the living room, nodding solemnly about the escape.

"It was a close call," Clint says of the whole business of their escape, the details of it something of a blur of water and adrenaline. "A little fuzzy on the details myself, I just remember a lot of water and then pulling ourselves into a raft."

It was a hard memory for him as well and truly he doubted it sat well with any of them. "Just glad we all made it out."

Shadow has posed:
    "Indeed," Natasha concurs, eyes shadowed as she sips her tea again, then looks back at Skye, waiting for the young woman to decide whether, and how much, she wants to continue talking about those events.

Quake has posed:
"It feels like it was so long ago, now," Skye says with a sigh. "Not one of the higlights of my life. I still feel guilty about it." Then a half grin, and a soft almost laugh. "And the medical room they put me in after. So many things that have screws in them. I think maintenance was scowling at me for weeks after."

Okay, they weren't scowling. Those who knew it was her were somewhat.. concerned. The rest just grumbled about basic maintenance being let go for entirely far too long.. It would be some time before Skye's open secret was rather more open than secret in SHIELD.

"We were just going to have tea?" She looks to Natasha for guidance on this one. Clint's presence would change the direction of their talk, but she'd broken the ice she'd needed to. They'd have a more common ground to meet on in the future, one that would have a legitimate real world reason for their interactions to boot.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
"Yeah," Clint says coming out of his own funk, joking lightly, "That was what? Eight, nine crises ago?" he offers with a smile. "And yeah you did a number on the medical room."

It had been a scary time for everyone involved, not knowing what these powers were or how they worked or if they'd ever be something that Skye would control. Now though they had somehow just become part of their life together.

Clint nods when the subject of tea is brought up Clint nods, "Well my offer to bail still stands, but if you guys don't mind the company, I can do tea." A smirk then. "Wonder if there's some sort of digusting frou-frou tea we can get behind just to tick off May," he muses aloud before adding to Natasha. "We have this beer we like that everyone hates, it's sort of become a running joke with our friends."

Shadow has posed:
Clint's comment elicits a brief laugh from Natasha. "The world does seem to require saving often these days, doesn't it?" She smiles and sips her tea again, looking from Clint to Skye. "What happened to the medical room, if it's not classified?" she asks, giving Skye that out if she wishes to take it.

Quake has posed:
Skye looks sheepish. "I panicked and everything started shaking. I didnt' really know where I was or what I was doing or why and the more things shook, the more upset I got.. " She gives Clint a soft look. "Think he slept by my bed that whole first week. Probably saved us thousands in medical equipment loss. It took a bit to figure out how to control myself. Not get upset by things. To actually focus in ways I wanted and not broadcast globally so to speak."

Again a hint of wryness, "I've had a few slipups since then. Mostly when I've been learning new things."

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Clint smiles supportively as Skye's expression turns sheepish, as if to say hey, you were dealing with some real shit, you did fine. The bit about him staying there gets a fond smile. "Yeah, and medical thought they were sick of me before..." he jokes, because well, better that than touch on something deep in front of company.

He nods. "Yeah, she's been doing great all in all, I don't think I could wake up to powers and deal with them so quickly.

Shadow has posed:
    Natasha nods, looking over at Clint with new respect. "You care about her a great deal, I see," she murmurs, then looks back at Skye. "You're fortunate to have someone you can trust to have your back that well in your life..."

    It's a perfectly polite compliment on the surface level, but Skye catches the unspoken question and offer underneath. Her call.

Quake has posed:
"He hates medical. They have a whole team of nurses that specialize in keeping him there for the minimum time necessary." Skye gives Clint a soft look in return. "And he stayed there for me."

Natasha's look is caught, and considered, her look then turning to back to Clint. "I trust him with my life."

Which is to say, she can too.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
"You'd do it for me," Clint grins.

As for the unspoken conversation happening around him, as much as Clint likes to play dumb at times, he's not, and he glances at the two ladies, asking, "So, what's up?"

Shadow has posed:
    "And he trusts you with his heart," Natasha replies to Skye with a smile, then turns back to Clint. "But that was clear the first time I met him."

    She smiles again, inclining her head just so, causing the shadow from the lamp to fall across the lower half of her face, and...

    It's nothing so cliche as an outward change. But just for a moment as Clint's eyes adjust to the shift in light levels the shadows are darker than they should be and the only visible part of her face are the eyes. Bright blue eyes that suddenly seem so much more aware than the amiably distant expression that seems the billionaire's default. Eyes that see through his skin and straight into his soul, laying all his sins bare.

    Eyes he's seen once before, in this very house, in the dead of night, telling him where his girlfriend was being held.

Quake has posed:
Skye scoffs laughingly at Clint, "You can't prove that," she tells him even as she flashes ~I love you~ with the fingers of one hand. When Natasha 'plays' with the light, it's clear she's not surprised by this turn of events, but she does watch Clint closely to see his reaction.

Melinda May has posed:
The sound of the front door closing heralds yet another arrival, punctuated by a rather mournful sounding meow... that didn't come from Randy. Then, a moment later, May's voice calls out from the entryway, "Skye. We need to talk."

And then another meow.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Clint returns the sign ~love you too~ he says before adding. ~Jerk~ and grinning.

Nat's display has his full attention those all-too familiar eyes the cloaking shadows...his eyes widen. "It was you," he exclaims, surprised.

As for his sins, it might surprise him how few he has, there's pride there, a need to measure up, to be the best, to not be left behind... there's wrath there also and deciet, but no more than most. He is a good man even if he wouldn't say so himself.

"...Amazing," Clint says. "So the whole Shadow being a man thing that's a cover and you're not the original are you?"

May's arrival ends that line of questioning. "Hey May, we're in here."

Wait. Was that a cat?

Shadow has posed:
    Natasha smiles serenely at Clint, as if someone didn't just have to mentally restructure a chunk of their world view. "Misdirection becomes so much easier when you show people what they expect to see and let them draw their own conclusions, wouldn't you agree?" She replies, then looks at the door when May makes her presence known.

Quake has posed:
"You're so lucky we have company," Skye laughs at Clint's 'jerk' - not that company has ever stopped her before. Especially company who has clearly been let in on all the nitty and gritty of Skye's life.

But when May arrives, Skye winces. Not just because of the 'we need to talk' but the why of it, because the cat meow is unmistakable. And if she's not mistaken, Pawgent Grant Ward is declaring his distaste of both May and being carried. "Oh.. I can explain.." Totally avoiding Clint's eyes, because pot.. kettle.. and yeah, her cat didn't have tags. okay. Grant had tags. He even had a lanyard she'd made him. Level 7 clearance and everything (just like the real thing!). "Would you believe he followed me home?" From her mother's village..

Yeah. That wasn't going to work. Instead, "Look, May, I made tea?"

Melinda May has posed:
May walks into the room where everyone else is, perhaps purposefully angling so she's walking right up behind Skye. She nods a polite hello to Natasha, and the moment she standing directly behind the younger agent, she lifts a hard shell cat carrier over the back of the sofa and sets it down next to Skye, the black cat inside it letting out another sorrowful moan.

Carrier placed on the sofa, she continues on through to the kitchen. Yes, she saw that the teapot is in use, and that there are only two shotglasses out on the coffee table. She's going to bring at least two more.

Shadow has posed:
    Natasha offers May a polite smile, then glances from the cat carrier to Skye, raising an eyebrow at the latter that probably reminds her a great deal of some of the sterner teachers she's had during her school years, usually just before they archly asked her if there was something she wanted to confess to the class...

Quake has posed:
The cat is.. pretty much literally out of the bag with regards to Grant. "I found him at my mother's village," she explains, opening the carrier, letting a very indignant Grant out. Grant who gives another yowl of complaint before settling on the couch beside Skye, and starts grooming himself, cleaning the oh so unacceptable stench of cat carrier from himself. "There was nobody there. He'd have died I think. Not that I really had a choice. He kind of let himself onto the quinjet."

But that's not the only cat in the bag, and while Clint hasn't asked, she's pretty sure he must have questions. After all, Natasha Cranston was The Shadow - and Skye wasn't surprised by this at all. Not to mention (not that Skye knows it) but she'd been who'd helped turn them onto where exactly it was Skye was being held. Lots and lots of co-incidences there.

"So, you remember back before all this started, Hotshot? When I said I was working on something, but I couldn't really say much about it? And you shrugged and said you trusted me?" Skye gives Nat a look, and knows May knows this story, and the truth of it, whether or not she chooses to listen from the kitchen, or join them. "I helped start a group of.. well, we're not really superheroes. We're kinda a middle ground. People who have talents to help do things that maybe the superheroes and the SHIELDs of the world can't. We called ourselves the Birds of Prey, and you've been working with them through SHIELD pretty much all of this time. I've been the covert liason. Feeding them information and bringing stuff back to us. So.. now you know."

Then a smirk for Natasha, "How do you like the name Quake by the way?"

Melinda May has posed:
May has indeed been listening from the kitchen, and she returns with a fresh handful of shot glasses, settling into one of the side chairs facing the sofa before pouring herself some tea. She doesn't interrupt Skye's reveal about the Birds of Prey and her new chosen codename of Quake. She just takes a sip of the t--

She looks at the remaining drink in the shotglass for a second before swallowing, then puts the glass down on the coffee table gently.

Shadow has posed:
    "An apt choice," Natasha replies, eyes lightly on May as the woman returns from the kitchen. "Appropriate, distinctive, succinct enough to use quickly in a crisis... I like it."

    There might have been a brief twitch of her lips when May reacts to the taste of the tea, but it's gone almost before anyone can see it.

Quake has posed:
"So we add tea to the list of things I'm going to learn." Skye says it in tones that make it very clear she understands this isn't negotiable or debatable. That if she's going to have a possibly priceless teapot in her homw (and even if it isn't and just looks like it) she's going to learn how to treat it with the respect it's due. Clearly a case of being domesticated in spite of herself.

"My father called me that," Skye says quietly. "I didn't keep the name my parents gave me, even if I let him call me Daisy, but I like it. I like Quake. It makes me feel powerful and strong and like all the women I know at SHIELD. Good women with good hearts."

Melinda May has posed:
"I'd settle for you noticing that the labels say how long to let it steep." May sits back, leaving her shot glass be for the moment. She doesn't visibly react to Skye's explanation about the name Quake, but inwardly, yeah. That's a pretty good feeling.

Almost makes up for that tea.

"When you get a chance, Skye, I did want to ask you something."

Quake has posed:
Skye totally bears a 'there's a label?' look on her face, but wisely says nothing, except to give May a look of curiosity. "Shoot. What's up?" Expecting it could be business. Then again, May had just delivered a cat to her house. It could be that, too.

Melinda May has posed:
"You are planning to get that cat checked over by a vet, right? And don't lock it in your quarters again. Security notified me of a 'disturbance' because it was almost literally howling." She doesn't bring up the topic of Skye having taken a quinjet WITHOUT the required senior pilot along, but that can wait.

For now.

Quake has posed:
"Yes Ma'am" Skye says dutifully. "Clint already made a vet appointment." For Randy. Skye doens't mention it's for the other cat in the house, but she's sure they can take both. As for hte quinjet, yeah.. that was a whole other ballgame. And she'd brought it back in one piece!

Shadow has posed:
    Natasha smiles and rises. "If you'll permit me, I'll go make the tea while you discuss this?" Without waiting for an answer she ambles into the kitchen, humming to herself as she pours out the remaining tea and rinses out the pot while the kettle boils...